Sing Me to Sleep
by Miss. Jay
Summary: Temperance met the Winter Soldier when she was 7. She met him again when she 15 and then, again when she was 23. It wasn't until she was 28 that she finally meets the silent man in person. Temperance is one of the few people that Bucky Barnes vaguely remembers without feeling a crushing amount of guilt. But Hydra realizes who she is and wants her gift. Can he help her? Bucky/OC.


**AN: **I've been on the Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier bandwagon since the movie came out, but I've finally decided to give it a shot and write a story about him. I really hope you all enjoy it and let me know what you think! She's not going to be in the medical field, a SHIELD agent or Hydra, nor is she going to stumble across him. I've read really good Bucky/OC stories, hell, even some awesome Bucky Barnes/Darcy Lewis (I SHIP THEM SO HARD) or Bucky Barnes/Jemma Simmons, but I wanted to try something different. The first few chapters are gonna start before CA:TWS.

**Asleep**

_Sing me to sleep_

_Sing me to sleep_

_I'm tired and I_

_I want to go to bed_

**III**

**Gainesville, Florida**

**Spring 1993**

Seven year old Temperance Connor stared blankly at the nightlight glowing warmly on the opposite side of the room, trying with all her might to stay awake. She was afraid to sleep because she always saw bad things when she let her small body succumb to exhaustion. Her parents could not understand why their little girl was afraid to fall asleep, which started suddenly about five months ago. The doctors couldn't figure it out as well, seeing how little Temperance Connor would barely say a word about her new sleep pattern. During the day though, she was always smiling and laughing as she played with her friends on the playground at school or chattered nonstop about what happened during her day. It was around eight o'clock in the evening – Temperance's bedtime – when she would withdraw into herself.

Temperance's green eyes started to droop as she began to nod off. She quickly caught herself and jerked awake. Temperance stiffened when she heard a noise outside of her bedroom door and waited warily as it crept open to reveal her mother's tired, but pretty face. Her mother slipped into her room, telling the little girl, "Tempy, it's late, you should be sleeping."

"I don't wanna sleep," Temperance mumbled, as her mother joined her on the bed.

Her mother, Karen Connor, brushed back Temperance's blonde bangs. "Why don't you wanna sleep, baby girl?"

Temperance's eyes darted around the room as she tried to figure out what to tell her mom. The young girl sighed and decided to go with the truth. "I don't like where I go."

"What," Karen blanked, furrowing her eyebrows. "You don't like where you go? What are you talking about, honey?"

"When I go to sleep, I end up somewhere else and something bad always happens," Temperance told her mom, quietly. "I don't wanna see bad things."

Her mother looked at her daughter in concern. "What bad things do you see, Tempy?"

Temperance shrugged her small shoulders. "All kinds of things. Two days ago, I met this boy named Ben. He was scared. He made me hide in his closet. I saw his dad hurt him and…do stuff to him with his…private parts. Before that, some dirty guy was bleeding in an alleyway and couldn't move. I wanted to help him, but I was scared and you and daddy always told me not to cross the road without a grownup!"

Karen gaped at her daughter in thinly veiled horror. "What on earth? Temperance, have you been watching the grownup channels again?!"

"No, mama! I didn't see it on no TV, I was sleeping when I saw those bad things, but it weren't no dream! It was real!" Temperance exclaimed, flailing her tiny arms.

Karen reached out to grab her arms gently, shushing Temperance, "Shhhh, baby girl, it's okay, it's okay. Tempy, you have to understand that you need to sleep and I promise you won't see no more bad things. How about I stay with you tonight? Huh, does that sound okay?"

Temperance sniffled as she gave a tiny nod. Her mom, though still concerned about what her daughter told her, gave a warm smile and cuddled her daughter to her chest as she eased them down on the bed. Temperance snuggled against her mom's warm, soft chest as Karen began to hum softly. The little girl's drifted off to sleep.

**III**

_ When Temperance came around, she first realized that it was cold and she was laying on something hard. She quickly snapped her eyes open and darted them around. Her breathing was fast and heavy as she realized that her mom's promise was no good. She was gonna see something bad. The little girl climbed to her feet from the cold cement floor. Temperance brushed her tangled blonde hair from her face as she eyed some kind of container in one of the corners of the room; it was open and she noticed that there was a bit of frost on the small window. To the left of the giant metal container, there was a metal table that looked like the one at her kitty's doctor's office. It looked ominous. She took a couple of steps back._

_ "_Who are you, child_," a quiet, rough voice asked from the shadows of the room. But his words didn't make sense to the seven year old. She whirled around in fear, green eyes large as she tried to spot the man. He repeated his question._

_ "Who's there?" Temperance asked timidly, as she tugged on her nightshirt. She sniffled. "I want to go home."_

_ The man materialized out of the shadow. His face was cold and impassive as he stared down at the little girl. She backed up a few steps. He took a quick glance around the room before refocusing on Temperance. She stared back at him with scared eyes._

_ "How did you get in here?" The man asked, cocking his head to the side. His dark brown hair brushed against his shoulder. _

_ Temperance shrugged. "I dunno." _

_ He came closer. "You were not in here five minutes ago. I did not hear you enter the room. Where did you come from?"_

_ "I dunno," Temperance whispered, hunching her shoulders and taking another few steps back. _

_ "What do you know?" The man asked, eyes narrowed. He had pretty eyes like her friend Jeremy, but they didn't sparkle like Jeremy's eyes. _

_ "I'm scared," Temperance admitted. The man's lips twitched slightly._

_ He suddenly snapped his head towards the door, eyes narrowed as if he was intently listening to something. The man quickly looked at Temperance as the doorknob rattled; his eyes widened fractionally as Temperance's body faded. _

**III**

Temperance's eyes flew open. She slowly relaxed when she realized that she was back in her bed with her mother softly snoring next to her. Her eyes felt heavy still, but Temperance knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. She furrowed her eyebrows as she thought about the man in the cold room. He was different than the other ones. He didn't need help, did he? A few hours passed and the sun was lightening the sky when her father poked his head into her room. He gave Temperance that big, dimpled grin that she inherited from him and tiptoed over to her bed, holding his arms out. She smiled sleepily at her dad as she went willingly into his arms.

"Want some pancakes today, Tempy?" Her father, Jason Connor, asked his daughter.

Her green eyes – another thing she got from him – lit up in delight. "Can they be blueberry ones, Daddy?!"

"I don't see why not, young lady!"

"Yay," Temperance chanted as they ventured into the kitchen, thoughts of the man in the scary room forgotten.

**III**

The Soldier stared blankly at the spot where the young child once stood, his mind trying to grasp the concept of her just vanishing like that. He ignored the men in black tactical gear as they swarmed the room with an older gentleman in an expensive suit and two men in white lab coats. The suit looked around the room, demanding, "Well, where is she?"

The Soldier stayed silent because he didn't know where she was. She wasn't here anymore. Though he did quickly calculate the amount of guns pointed at him and estimated that it would take three minutes to dismantle them if they tried to engage with him.

"Soldier, where is the child?" The suit demanded slowly, as if he were a threat to the Soldier.

He leveled his blank, blue eyes on the suit and stated, "She is not present in the room anymore."

"How the hell did she get here?"

"I do not know. She appeared suddenly and disappeared just as quickly." The Soldier stated simply.

"Well, what do you know?!" The suit barked harshly. The Soldier didn't flinch.

"She was afraid."

**III**

Alright! Tell me what you think! The next chapter will be a time jump, but it still will be before the movie. I hope you didn't find him too talkative with Tempy because he would have quickly determined that she was not a threat, but he would want to know how she got in there.


End file.
